The moments when we learn together with our partners create some of the most powerful and impactful tools for us to align around and act upon. Our partners include the family we work with; fellow staff at the Foundation; our professional partners in the field who have dedicated their lives to changemaking; and our neighbors who live closest to the issues we hope to face together, are generously sharing their power, and are allowing us to work alongside them.
The Fisher Foundation’s Gratitude Series is a collection of short summaries of the lessons we’ve learned together with our partners, housed here so they are available for anyone at any time. Centered in gratitude and acknowledging the source, our hope is more changemakers, decisionmakers, and leaders learn these lessons and share them widely.
Sharing Resources is one thing, sharing power is another
Dwan Dandridge is the CEO of Black Leaders Detroit and VP Community Engagement for Life Remodeled. I met him through a friend we have in common, and now I feel lucky we call each other friends. During a conversation about our work, Dwan said to me “Sharing resources is one thing, sharing power is another.” That simple phrase spoke a truth to me I had not felt before. It made me think about BizLoan, a program we’ve worked to develop alongside partners at the New Economy Initiative. Through BizLoan, we have shared resources to create a source of loans for Black-owned neighborhood-based businesses, and prove they are not high risk per the assumption of most banks – but we didn’t share the power of deciding who received the loans. We have work to do.
A lesson I will never forget: I’ve shared this lesson with fellow leaders far and wide, including at the Jewish Global Forum during a webinar focused on worldwide COVID relief. At that meeting, a world-renowned professional I respect a great deal and whose compliments mean the world to me, praised me for how I said those words. Although I made clear that I learned that phrase from Dwan, I was proud to reiterate the source of the wisdom.
How it changed my team forever: We’ve tried to work alongside our partners and not work on them. As a result, we’ve listened intently and acted differently. With this lesson, we now have a new question — have we truly shared power here, or have we kept the power and only the shared resources?
Working to ensure the field learns this lesson: My hope is that this short post inspires changemakers, decisionmakers, policymakers, and youth to reflect on and share this lesson, as well as those they’ve learned.
– Doug Bitonti Stewart, Executive Director, Max. M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
